EP0943441A1 - Ink jet recording head and ink jet recorder - Google Patents
Ink jet recording head and ink jet recorder Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- EP0943441A1 EP0943441A1 EP98923099A EP98923099A EP0943441A1 EP 0943441 A1 EP0943441 A1 EP 0943441A1 EP 98923099 A EP98923099 A EP 98923099A EP 98923099 A EP98923099 A EP 98923099A EP 0943441 A1 EP0943441 A1 EP 0943441A1
- Authority
- EP
- European Patent Office
- Prior art keywords
- ink
- recording head
- jet recording
- head according
- blade
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Granted
Links
- 239000011241 protective layer Substances 0.000 claims abstract description 74
- 238000004140 cleaning Methods 0.000 claims abstract description 19
- 230000001105 regulatory effect Effects 0.000 claims abstract description 9
- 239000010410 layer Substances 0.000 claims description 21
- 239000005871 repellent Substances 0.000 claims description 21
- 238000010030 laminating Methods 0.000 claims description 2
- 238000010438 heat treatment Methods 0.000 claims 1
- 239000000428 dust Substances 0.000 description 13
- 238000007639 printing Methods 0.000 description 7
- PXHVJJICTQNCMI-UHFFFAOYSA-N Nickel Chemical compound [Ni] PXHVJJICTQNCMI-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 2
- 230000000694 effects Effects 0.000 description 2
- 238000005323 electroforming Methods 0.000 description 2
- 238000009713 electroplating Methods 0.000 description 2
- 238000005530 etching Methods 0.000 description 2
- 239000000463 material Substances 0.000 description 2
- 239000007769 metal material Substances 0.000 description 2
- 238000000638 solvent extraction Methods 0.000 description 2
- 239000000758 substrate Substances 0.000 description 2
- 239000011248 coating agent Substances 0.000 description 1
- 238000000576 coating method Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000006073 displacement reaction Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000005489 elastic deformation Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000007772 electroless plating Methods 0.000 description 1
- 229920002313 fluoropolymer Polymers 0.000 description 1
- 239000004811 fluoropolymer Substances 0.000 description 1
- 238000011010 flushing procedure Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000007641 inkjet printing Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000002184 metal Substances 0.000 description 1
- 229910052751 metal Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 229910052759 nickel Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 239000007787 solid Substances 0.000 description 1
- 125000006850 spacer group Chemical group 0.000 description 1
- 238000004544 sputter deposition Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000011144 upstream manufacturing Methods 0.000 description 1
Images
Classifications
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
- B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
- B41J2/01—Ink jet
- B41J2/135—Nozzles
- B41J2/14—Structure thereof only for on-demand ink jet heads
- B41J2/1433—Structure of nozzle plates
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
- B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
- B41J2/01—Ink jet
- B41J2/135—Nozzles
- B41J2/16—Production of nozzles
- B41J2/1606—Coating the nozzle area or the ink chamber
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
- B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
- B41J2/01—Ink jet
- B41J2/135—Nozzles
- B41J2/165—Prevention or detection of nozzle clogging, e.g. cleaning, capping or moistening for nozzles
- B41J2/16517—Cleaning of print head nozzles
- B41J2/16535—Cleaning of print head nozzles using wiping constructions
- B41J2/16538—Cleaning of print head nozzles using wiping constructions with brushes or wiper blades perpendicular to the nozzle plate
Definitions
- the present invention relates to an ink-jet recording head for jetting ink pressurized in a pressure generating chamber by pressurizing means from a nozzle aperture as an ink droplet, and in more detail, relates to an ink-jet recording head in which a nozzle aperture can be prevented from being clogged by a wiping member.
- An ink-jet recording head is provided with a nozzle plate wherein nozzle apertures are made at predetermined pitch in a thin plate, a pressure generating chamber communicating with each nozzle aperture and a reservoir for supplying ink to a pressure generating chamber as well-known, and is constituted so that an ink droplet is jetted from a nozzle aperture by pressurizing ink in a pressure generating chamber by a piezoelectric vibrator, a heater element and others.
- a measure to prevent recording paper from coming in contact with a protective layer in the vicinity of each nozzle aperture N by forming the protective layer composed of a metallic layer 1 to 30 ⁇ m thick in an area apart by approximately 100 to 150 ⁇ m from each nozzle aperture N of a nozzle plate P so that a concave portion C is formed around each nozzle aperture N is taken.
- a concave portion C between adjacent nozzle apertures in the same column is extremely small to form an independent concave portion C every nozzle aperture as described above in case recently, pitch at which nozzle apertures are arranged is 180 dpi per column and extremely small to enhance printing quality, it is very difficult to form such a concave portion. Therefore, as shown in Fig. 21B, a rectangular common concave portion C' is formed around nozzle apertures N in one column.
- a recording head H provided with the nozzle plate P constituted as described above is relatively moved in the direction D or D' of a blade B as shown as II and II' after the blade B is lifted on the side of the recording head H with the recording head located on the upstream side of the blade B arranged on a path of movement as shown in Fig. 22 (I) which is cleaning means, hereby, the blade B is elastically touched to the recording head H as shown as III and III' and hereby, cleaning is executed.
- An ink-jet recording head comprises plural pressure generating chambers arranged at predetermined pitch linearly in one or more columns for pressurizing ink by pressurizing means and a nozzle plate in which plural nozzle apertures each of which communicates with each pressure generating chamber are formed and a protective layer for regulating so that a part of a blade comes in contact with a nozzle aperture when the blade is pressed on the nozzle plate is formed in the vicinity of the above nozzle aperture in a state in which an open exhaust port is secured on the side of the end of the protective layer in a direction in which the blade for cleaning is moved.
- a first object of the present invention is to provide an ink-jet recording head wherein ink which adheres to the nozzle plate, the leavings of ink and dust on paper can be securely exhausted in an area which has no effect upon jetting an ink droplet without wearing an ink-repellent layer and further, the ink-repellent layer can be prevented from being worn or broken by contact between the ink-repellent layer and recording paper.
- a second object of the present invention is to provide an ink-jet recording apparatus provided with cleaning means suitable for the above recording head.
- Fig. 1 shows an embodiment of a recording apparatus using an ink-jet recording head according to the present invention
- a carriage 1 is connected to a pulse motor 3 via a timing belt 2' the carriage is constituted so that it is guided by a guide member 4 and reciprocated in the direction of the width of recording paper 5 and ink-jet recording heads 6 and 7 described later are attached to the surface opposite to the recording paper 5, the lower surface in this embodiment.
- the ink-jet recording heads 6 and 7 are respectively supplied with ink by ink cartridges 8 and 9 mounted on the carriage 1, respectively jet an ink droplet on the recording paper 5 as the carriage 1 is moved, respectively form one or plural dots per one pixel and respectively print images and characters on the recording paper 5.
- a capping device 10 is provided in a non-printing area, seals nozzle apertures of the recording heads 6 and 7 during rest to prevent the nozzle apertures from being dry and in the meantime, also functions as a receptacle for receiving an ink droplet jetted from the recording heads 6 and 7 by flushing operation executed during printing.
- a cleaning device 11 is provided in the vicinity of the capping device in the non-printing area and arranged so that a blade 12 for touching the nozzle plates of the recording heads 6 and 7 as shown in Figs. 2 has a gradient of an angle ⁇ with a direction perpendicular to a direction in which nozzle apertures are arranged, that is, a direction in which the carriage 1 is moved.
- Fig. 3 shows an embodiment of the above recording head and pressure generating means, a piezoelectric vibrator 13 in this embodiment and a passage unit 14 to which displacement from the above piezoelectric vibrator is applied are fixed to a holder 15.
- the passage unit 14 is constituted by laminating an elastic plate 16 which is in contact with the end of the piezoelectric vibrator 13 and to which elastic deformation is applied, a spacer 20 partitioning a pressure generating chamber 17, an ink supply port 18 and a reservoir 19, and a nozzle plate 22 provided with a nozzle aperture 21 communicating with the pressure generating chamber 17.
- the nozzle plate 22 is provided with two columns of nozzle apertures 21 each of which is formed at predetermined pitch as shown in Figs. 4, and long and narrow protective layers 23 extended in parallel with a wiping direction at the same pitch as pitch between adjacent nozzle apertures 21 so that at least the protective layer is opposite to the nozzle aperture 21 are discretely formed in each column of nozzle apertures 21.
- the height H of the protective layer 23 is set to approximately 2 to 10 ⁇ m and is formed so that the length L is at least larger than the diameter d of the nozzle aperture 21.
- These protective layers 23 can be formed by etching a substrate to be the nozzle plate 23, electroforming metallic material on the nozzle plate 22 in a shape equivalent to the protective layer 23 or sticking a thin piece formed beforehand as another member.
- the protective layer 23 is formed at the same pitch as pitch between adjacent nozzle apertures, however, one protective layer 23 per plural nozzle apertures 21 may be also formed as shown in Fig. 6.
- Figs. 7A and 7B respectively show a second embodiment of the present invention and in this embodiment, a band 24 is formed by connecting the side of the admission port of a blade 12 of each protective layer 23 so that the downstream side of each protective layer 23 in a direction in which the blade 12 is moved is open.
- a direction perpendicular to a direction in which nozzle apertures 21 are arranged is a horizontal direction, however, as shown in Fig. 8, if the protective layer 23 is tilted by the approximately similar angle ⁇ ' in case the blade 12 is tilted by an angle ⁇ with a direction in which nozzle apertures are arranged, the leavings of ink, dust on paper and ink can be efficiently exhausted into an area not related to jetting an ink droplet without reducing rejection ratio.
- Figs. 9 show the structure of a nozzle plate equivalent to further another embodiment of the present invention, a protective layer 30 is formed between nozzle apertures 21 formed at predetermined pitch in a nozzle plate 22.
- the protective layer 30 comprises the body 30a parallel to a direction in which recording heads 6 and 7 are moved and a wider branch 30b than the width of the body which is perpendicular to the direction in which the recording heads 6 and 7 are moved and in the center of which the end of the body 30a is located.
- the height H of the protective layer 30 is set to approximately 2 to 10 ⁇ m, and the body 30a and the branch 30b are formed so that each length La and Lb is at least larger than the diameter of the nozzle aperture 21.
- These protective layers 30 are arranged at predetermined pitch, at the same pitch as the nozzle aperture 21 in this embodiment so that an interval Lc is made between the end of the body 30a and the branch 30b of adjacent protective layers 30 to open at least a direction in which a blade 12 is moved.
- These protective layers 30 can be readily formed by etching a substrate to be the nozzle plate 22 in a desired shape, forming them on the nozzle plate 22 by electroforming metallic material such as nickel in a shape equivalent to the protective layer 30 or forming a thin piece in a shape equivalent to the protective layer as another member and bonding the thin piece to the nozzle plate 22 as in the case of the above protective layer 23.
- a reference number 31 denotes an ink-repellent layer and the ink-repellent layer is formed by coating or electrolytic plating ink-repellent material a few hundred nm to a few ⁇ m thick formed around the nozzle aperture 21 such as fluoropolymers.
- the end of the wiper blade 12 when the end of the wiper blade 12 is touched to the nozzle plate 22 and wiping is executed, the end of the blade 12 elastically comes in contact with a part between the bodies 30a of the protective layers 30 as shown in Fig. 10 when the blade passes the nozzle aperture 21.
- the wiper blade 12 is relatively moved in the axial direction of the body 30a in this state, the leavings of ink and dust on paper in the vicinity of the nozzle aperture 21 are removed, preventing the ink-repellent layer 31 from being worn or deteriorated because the ink-repellent layer 31 formed around the nozzle aperture 21 is never rubbed with strong contact force.
- Ink and dust on paper at the nozzle aperture 21 and in the vicinity which are wiped by the wiper blade 12 as described above are swept in an area not related to jetting an ink droplet from an exhaust port located on the downstream side of the adjacent protective layers 30 and never remain around the nozzle aperture 21.
- Ink and dust on paper which are rubbed by the branch 30b of the protective layer 30 and adhere to another branch 30b are flushed when the recording heads 6 and 7 are sealed by a capping device 10 and ink is forcedly exhausted from the recording heads 6 and 7 by a suction pump 16.
- recording paper can be securely prevented from coming in contact with the ink-repellent layer 31 in the vicinity of the nozzle aperture 21 due to a paper jam, or the like.
- Figs. 11 show furthermore another embodiment of the present invention and in this embodiment, the branch 30b' of a protective layer 30 is extended so that it is twice or more as long as pitch between adjacent nozzle apertures 21 and the bodies 30a are arranged at an interval twice or more as long as pitch between adjacent nozzle apertures 21.
- the refresh rate of the wiper blade 12 is enhanced by quantity in which the length of the branch 30b is longer than that in the above embodiment shown in Figs. 9.
- a protective layer 30 is constituted so that branches 30b longer than pitch between adjacent nozzle apertures 21 are formed at both ends of the body 30a with the body located in the center of the protective layer 30 and the protective layers are arranged at pitch twice as long as the pitch between adjacent nozzle apertures 21 in each column so that they are zigzag.
- the body and the branch are arranged so that they are in the shape of a letter H, however, the similar action is produced even if as shown in Fig. 13A, the body 30a is arranged so that it is located between nozzle apertures and branches 30b are arranged on the same side, on the upper side in Fig. 13A in this embodiment so that an interval can be formed between the bodies 30a of adjacent protective layers 30 and as shown in Fig. 13B, the branches 30b are formed in reverse directions in the shape of a key.
- Figs. 14 show furthermore another embodiment of the present invention and a protective layer 35 is formed approximately in the shape of a triangle symmetrical in a direction in which a linear part 35a which is approximately perpendicular to a path on which the blade is moved on the side opposite to a direction in which the blade 12 is moved and which is longer than pitch between adjacent nozzle apertures 21 and a curved part 35b forming a vertex 35b tapered from the linear part to the side of the nozzle aperture on the side opposite to the nozzle aperture 21 are perpendicular to a direction in which nozzle apertures are arranged.
- Pitch between the adjacent protective layers 35 is equal to pitch between the adjacent nozzle apertures 21 and the protective layers are arranged with them alternately inverted so that the side of the vertex is located on the side of the nozzle aperture.
- Figs. 15 show furthermore another embodiment of the present invention and a protective layer 36 is formed so that a linear part 36a which is approximately perpendicular to a path on which a blade is moved on the side opposite to a direction in which the blade 12 is moved and which is longer than pitch between adjacent nozzle apertures 21 and a curved part the center of which is the narrowest part are both symmetrical in a direction in which the nozzle apertures are arranged and a direction perpendicular to the direction.
- These protective layers 36 are arranged at pitch twice as long as pitch between adjacent nozzle apertures 21 so that the narrowest part is opposite to the nozzle aperture.
- Figs. 16 show the structure of a nozzle plate equivalent to furthermore another embodiment of the present invention and rectangular concave portions 40 and 40' respectively surrounding nozzle apertures 21 and nozzle apertures 21' in the respective columns and provided with open parts 40a and 40a' at the end of a nozzle plate 22 (the lower end in Fig. 16A) are formed. These concave portions 40 and 40' are connected by a concave portion 41 formed in a boundary between them.
- concave portions 40 and 40' and the concave portion 41 are constituted by providing a protective layer 43 made of metal and others with the thickness of approximately 5 to 30 ⁇ m by sputtering, electroless plating, electrolytic plating and others and an ink-repellent layer 44 is formed by material provided with ink repellency inside at least the concave portions 40 and 407.
- the recording paper as recording paper is supported by the surface of the protective layer 43 in case the recording paper comes in contact with the surface of the nozzle plate 22 in printing, the recording paper crosses the concave portions 40 and 40', does not come in contact with the ink-repellent layer 44 which has a great effect upon ink jetting performance in the concave portions 40 and 40' and therefore, does not peel the ink-repellent layer.
- the blade 12 has an angle ⁇ with a direction in which nozzle apertures 21 are arranged when the blade 12 is elastically touched to the nozzle plates 22 of recording heads 6 and 7 and the blade 12 or the recording head 6 is relatively moved in a direction shown by an arrow D in Fig. 17 if cleaning is required because of long-time printing, the most of the blade 12 is supported by the surface of the protective layer 43, only a part enters the concave portions 40 and 40' and is elastically touched to the ink-repellent layer 44 with light force as shown in Fig. 17.
- the leavings K of ink are gathered on a wall on the downstream side of the concave portion 40 and as the blade 12 is moved, the leavings of ink are moved in a direction shown by an arrow E in Fig. 18, that is, on the side of the open port 40a as shown in Fig. 18.
- the leavings of ink are exhausted out of the nozzle plate 22 via the open port 40a.
- the leavings K of ink are also gathered on a wall on the downstream side, are moved to the open port 40a' of the concave portion 40' as described above as shown in Fig. 19, are guided to outside along the slope of the wall 40c' regulating the end of the concave portion 40' and are exhausted as shown in Fig. 20.
- the leavings K' of ink can be guided in an area not related to jetting an ink droplet, further, if the blade is extended up to the end of the nozzle plate 22, the leavings of ink can be exhausted in an area with which the blade 12 is not in contact and the leavings of ink can be prevented from adhering to the blade 12 again in cleaning.
- the ink-jet recording head of a type that a pressure generating chamber is pressurized by a piezoelectric vibrator is described as an example, however, it is clear that the similar action can be produced even if the present invention is applied to a nozzle plate of a bubble-jet recording head wherein a heater element is sealed in a pressure generating chamber and ink is jetted by thermal energy.
- the present invention if recording paper comes in contact with the nozzle plate, it can be prevented from coming in contact with the ink-repellent layer in an area in the vicinity of a nozzle aperture owing to the protective layer, in cleaning the ink-repellent layer is prevented from being worn by regulating an area with which the blade comes in contact by the protective layer and elastically touching the blade with light force enough to clean the face of an nozzle aperture and further, ink, the leavings of ink and dust on paper respectively gathered by the blade can be exhausted in an area not related to jetting an ink droplet via the open port.
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- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
- Particle Formation And Scattering Control In Inkjet Printers (AREA)
- Ink Jet (AREA)
Abstract
Description
- The present invention relates to an ink-jet recording head for jetting ink pressurized in a pressure generating chamber by pressurizing means from a nozzle aperture as an ink droplet, and in more detail, relates to an ink-jet recording head in which a nozzle aperture can be prevented from being clogged by a wiping member.
- An ink-jet recording head is provided with a nozzle plate wherein nozzle apertures are made at predetermined pitch in a thin plate, a pressure generating chamber communicating with each nozzle aperture and a reservoir for supplying ink to a pressure generating chamber as well-known, and is constituted so that an ink droplet is jetted from a nozzle aperture by pressurizing ink in a pressure generating chamber by a piezoelectric vibrator, a heater element and others.
- As dust on recording paper and the leavings of ink adhere to a nozzle aperture and the vicinity and the nozzle aperture is often clogged because an ink-jet recording head executes printing at an interval to the extent that the ink-jet recording head almost comes in contact with recording paper and ink including a solid component such as dye is used, a nozzle plate is wiped by a blade of a rubber plate every predetermined time to remove dust on recording paper and the leavings of ink.
- In the meantime, as described above, as an interval between a nozzle plate and recording paper is extremely small, the recording paper comes in contact with a nozzle aperture and an ink-repellent layer provided around the nozzle aperture may be worn.
- Therefore, as shown in Fig. 21A, a measure to prevent recording paper from coming in contact with a protective layer in the vicinity of each nozzle aperture N by forming the protective layer composed of a
metallic layer 1 to 30 µm thick in an area apart by approximately 100 to 150 µm from each nozzle aperture N of a nozzle plate P so that a concave portion C is formed around each nozzle aperture N is taken. - As the width of a concave portion C between adjacent nozzle apertures in the same column is extremely small to form an independent concave portion C every nozzle aperture as described above in case recently, pitch at which nozzle apertures are arranged is 180 dpi per column and extremely small to enhance printing quality, it is very difficult to form such a concave portion. Therefore, as shown in Fig. 21B, a rectangular common concave portion C' is formed around nozzle apertures N in one column.
- A recording head H provided with the nozzle plate P constituted as described above is relatively moved in the direction D or D' of a blade B as shown as II and II' after the blade B is lifted on the side of the recording head H with the recording head located on the upstream side of the blade B arranged on a path of movement as shown in Fig. 22 (I) which is cleaning means, hereby, the blade B is elastically touched to the recording head H as shown as III and III' and hereby, cleaning is executed.
- At this time, as the most area of the blade B is dropped in the concave portion C', comes in contact with and rubs an ink-repellent layer F with strong pressure, there is a problem that the ink-repellent layer F is worn, scratched leavings of ink are accumulated particularly along a wall W2 on the downstream side out of walls W1 and W2 partitioning the concave portion C' as shown in Figs. 23A and 23B and recording paper is dirtied, a direction in which an ink droplet is jetted varies, or the like.
- An ink-jet recording head according to the present invention comprises plural pressure generating chambers arranged at predetermined pitch linearly in one or more columns for pressurizing ink by pressurizing means and a nozzle plate in which plural nozzle apertures each of which communicates with each pressure generating chamber are formed and a protective layer for regulating so that a part of a blade comes in contact with a nozzle aperture when the blade is pressed on the nozzle plate is formed in the vicinity of the above nozzle aperture in a state in which an open exhaust port is secured on the side of the end of the protective layer in a direction in which the blade for cleaning is moved.
- Therefore, a first object of the present invention is to provide an ink-jet recording head wherein ink which adheres to the nozzle plate, the leavings of ink and dust on paper can be securely exhausted in an area which has no effect upon jetting an ink droplet without wearing an ink-repellent layer and further, the ink-repellent layer can be prevented from being worn or broken by contact between the ink-repellent layer and recording paper.
- A second object of the present invention is to provide an ink-jet recording apparatus provided with cleaning means suitable for the above recording head.
-
- Fig. 1 is a perspective drawing showing an embodiment of a recording apparatus using an ink-jet recording head according to the present invention;
- Figs. 2A and 2B are a side view and a top view respectively showing the structure in the vicinity of a cleaning device;
- Fig. 3 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of the ink-jet recording head according to the present invention;
- Figs. 4 show an embodiment of a nozzle plate of the above recording head, Fig. 4A is a front view, Fig. 4B shows the section viewed along a line A-A;
- Fig. 5 shows a state in which a blade is in contact with the nozzle plate for cleaning;
- Fig. 6 is a front view showing the structure of a nozzle plate equivalent to another embodiment of the present invention;
- Figs. 7 show the structure of a nozzle plate equivalent to further another embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 7A is a front view and Fig. 7B shows the sectional structure viewed along a line B-B;
- Fig. 8 is a front view showing the structure of a nozzle plate equivalent to furthermore another embodiment of the present invention;
- Figs. 9 show the structure of a nozzle plate equivalent to furthermore another embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 9A is a front view, Fig. 9B shows the sectional structure viewed along a line C-C;
- Fig. 10 shows a state in which a blade is in contact with the nozzle plate for cleaning;
- Figs. 11 show the structure of a nozzle plate equivalent to furthermore another embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 11A is a front view and Fig. 11B shows the sectional structure viewed along a line D-D;
- Figs. 12 show the structure of a nozzle plate equivalent to furthermore another embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 12A is a front view and Fig. 12B shows the sectional structure viewed along a line E-E;
- Figs. 13A and 13B are respectively front views showing the structure of nozzle plates equivalent to furthermore another embodiment of the present invention;
- Figs. 14 show the structure of a nozzle plate equivalent to furthermore another embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 14A is a front view and Fig. 14B shows the sectional structure viewed along a line F-F;
- Figs. 15 show the structure of a nozzle plate equivalent to furthermore another embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 15A is a front view and Fig. 15B shows the sectional structure viewed along a line G-G;
- Figs. 16 show the structure of a nozzle plate equivalent to the other embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 16A is a front view and Fig. 16B shows the sectional structure viewed along a line H-H;
- Figs. 17 to 20 respectively show a cleaning state of the nozzle plate shown in Figs. 16;
- Figs. 21A and 21B respectively show conventional type examples of nozzle plates of an ink-jet recording head used for a recording apparatus;
- Figs. 22 (I) to (III') are explanatory drawings for explaining wiping operation by a blade and further; and
- Figs. 23A and 23B are a front view and a sectional view respectively showing a state of cleaning.
-
- Embodiments showing the details of the present invention in the drawings will be described below.
- Fig. 1 shows an embodiment of a recording apparatus using an ink-jet recording head according to the present invention, a
carriage 1 is connected to apulse motor 3 via a timing belt 2' the carriage is constituted so that it is guided by aguide member 4 and reciprocated in the direction of the width ofrecording paper 5 and ink-jet recording heads recording paper 5, the lower surface in this embodiment. The ink-jet recording heads ink cartridges carriage 1, respectively jet an ink droplet on therecording paper 5 as thecarriage 1 is moved, respectively form one or plural dots per one pixel and respectively print images and characters on therecording paper 5. - A
capping device 10 is provided in a non-printing area, seals nozzle apertures of therecording heads recording heads - A
cleaning device 11 is provided in the vicinity of the capping device in the non-printing area and arranged so that ablade 12 for touching the nozzle plates of therecording heads carriage 1 is moved. - Fig. 3 shows an embodiment of the above recording head and pressure generating means, a
piezoelectric vibrator 13 in this embodiment and apassage unit 14 to which displacement from the above piezoelectric vibrator is applied are fixed to aholder 15. - The
passage unit 14 is constituted by laminating anelastic plate 16 which is in contact with the end of thepiezoelectric vibrator 13 and to which elastic deformation is applied, aspacer 20 partitioning apressure generating chamber 17, anink supply port 18 and areservoir 19, and anozzle plate 22 provided with anozzle aperture 21 communicating with thepressure generating chamber 17. - The
nozzle plate 22 is provided with two columns ofnozzle apertures 21 each of which is formed at predetermined pitch as shown in Figs. 4, and long and narrowprotective layers 23 extended in parallel with a wiping direction at the same pitch as pitch betweenadjacent nozzle apertures 21 so that at least the protective layer is opposite to thenozzle aperture 21 are discretely formed in each column ofnozzle apertures 21. The height H of theprotective layer 23 is set to approximately 2 to 10 µm and is formed so that the length L is at least larger than the diameter d of thenozzle aperture 21. - These
protective layers 23 can be formed by etching a substrate to be thenozzle plate 23, electroforming metallic material on thenozzle plate 22 in a shape equivalent to theprotective layer 23 or sticking a thin piece formed beforehand as another member. - In this embodiment, when the end of the
blade 12 is touched to thenozzle plate 22 and wiping is executed if an ink droplet is not jetted from thenozzle aperture 21, the central area between theprotective layers 23 elastically comes in contact with the face of thenozzle aperture 21 with weak strength suitable for removing the leavings of ink and dust on paper because the surface of theblade 12 elastically comes in contact with theprotective layer 23 as shown in Fig. 5. - In this state, when the
blade 12 is relatively moved in a direction in which theprotective layer 23 is extended, the leavings of ink and dust on paper in the vicinity of thenozzle aperture 21 and further, ink which adheres to theblade 12 are swept into an area not related to jetting an ink droplet from a clear aperture O open at the other end of theprotective layer 23 on the downstream side in a direction in which theblade 12 is moved without rubbing an ink-repellent layer formed around thenozzle aperture 21 with strong strength uselessly. - In the above embodiment, the
protective layer 23 is formed at the same pitch as pitch between adjacent nozzle apertures, however, oneprotective layer 23 perplural nozzle apertures 21 may be also formed as shown in Fig. 6. - Figs. 7A and 7B respectively show a second embodiment of the present invention and in this embodiment, a
band 24 is formed by connecting the side of the admission port of ablade 12 of eachprotective layer 23 so that the downstream side of eachprotective layer 23 in a direction in which theblade 12 is moved is open. - According to this embodiment, as recording paper can be lifted up to the height of the
protective layer 23 owing to theband 24 even if the end of recording paper is in contact with thenozzle plates 10 of the recording heads 6 and 7 due to a jam of recording paper and others, an accident that strong strength is uselessly applied to theprotective layer 23 by the end of the recording paper and the protective layer is lost can be prevented beforehand. - In the above embodiment, a direction perpendicular to a direction in which
nozzle apertures 21 are arranged is a horizontal direction, however, as shown in Fig. 8, if theprotective layer 23 is tilted by the approximately similar angle ' in case theblade 12 is tilted by an angle with a direction in which nozzle apertures are arranged, the leavings of ink, dust on paper and ink can be efficiently exhausted into an area not related to jetting an ink droplet without reducing rejection ratio. - Figs. 9 show the structure of a nozzle plate equivalent to further another embodiment of the present invention, a
protective layer 30 is formed betweennozzle apertures 21 formed at predetermined pitch in anozzle plate 22. - The
protective layer 30 comprises thebody 30a parallel to a direction in which recording heads 6 and 7 are moved and awider branch 30b than the width of the body which is perpendicular to the direction in which the recording heads 6 and 7 are moved and in the center of which the end of thebody 30a is located. - The height H of the
protective layer 30 is set to approximately 2 to 10 µm, and thebody 30a and thebranch 30b are formed so that each length La and Lb is at least larger than the diameter of thenozzle aperture 21. - These
protective layers 30 are arranged at predetermined pitch, at the same pitch as thenozzle aperture 21 in this embodiment so that an interval Lc is made between the end of thebody 30a and thebranch 30b of adjacentprotective layers 30 to open at least a direction in which ablade 12 is moved. - These
protective layers 30 can be readily formed by etching a substrate to be thenozzle plate 22 in a desired shape, forming them on thenozzle plate 22 by electroforming metallic material such as nickel in a shape equivalent to theprotective layer 30 or forming a thin piece in a shape equivalent to the protective layer as another member and bonding the thin piece to thenozzle plate 22 as in the case of the aboveprotective layer 23. - A
reference number 31 denotes an ink-repellent layer and the ink-repellent layer is formed by coating or electrolytic plating ink-repellent material a few hundred nm to a few µm thick formed around thenozzle aperture 21 such as fluoropolymers. - In this embodiment, when the end of the
wiper blade 12 is touched to thenozzle plate 22 and wiping is executed, the end of theblade 12 elastically comes in contact with a part between thebodies 30a of theprotective layers 30 as shown in Fig. 10 when the blade passes thenozzle aperture 21. When thewiper blade 12 is relatively moved in the axial direction of thebody 30a in this state, the leavings of ink and dust on paper in the vicinity of thenozzle aperture 21 are removed, preventing the ink-repellent layer 31 from being worn or deteriorated because the ink-repellent layer 31 formed around thenozzle aperture 21 is never rubbed with strong contact force. - Ink and dust on paper at the
nozzle aperture 21 and in the vicinity which are wiped by thewiper blade 12 as described above are swept in an area not related to jetting an ink droplet from an exhaust port located on the downstream side of the adjacentprotective layers 30 and never remain around thenozzle aperture 21. - Further, as the
blade 12 comes in contact with thebranch 30b of theprotective layer 30 formed in the following vicinity when the recording heads 6 and 7 and theblade 12 are relatively moved and reach the vicinity of the next column of nozzle apertures, ink and dust on paper which respectively adhere immediately before are rubbed by thebranch 30b formed in an area not related to jetting an ink droplet and theblade 12 is refreshed. - Therefore, even if plural columns of nozzle apertures are continuously wiped by the
blade 12, ink, the leavings of ink and dust on paper at thenozzle aperture 21 immediately before can be possibly prevented from adhering to thenozzle aperture 21 in the next column and the vicinity. - Ink and dust on paper which are rubbed by the
branch 30b of theprotective layer 30 and adhere to anotherbranch 30b are flushed when the recording heads 6 and 7 are sealed by acapping device 10 and ink is forcedly exhausted from the recording heads 6 and 7 by asuction pump 16. - According to this embodiment, as the
body 30a and thebranch 30b approximately surround thenozzle aperture 21, recording paper can be securely prevented from coming in contact with the ink-repellent layer 31 in the vicinity of thenozzle aperture 21 due to a paper jam, or the like. - Figs. 11 show furthermore another embodiment of the present invention and in this embodiment, the
branch 30b' of aprotective layer 30 is extended so that it is twice or more as long as pitch betweenadjacent nozzle apertures 21 and thebodies 30a are arranged at an interval twice or more as long as pitch betweenadjacent nozzle apertures 21. - According to this embodiment, the refresh rate of the
wiper blade 12 is enhanced by quantity in which the length of thebranch 30b is longer than that in the above embodiment shown in Figs. 9. - Figs. 12 show furthermore another embodiment of the present invention, a
protective layer 30 is constituted so thatbranches 30b longer than pitch betweenadjacent nozzle apertures 21 are formed at both ends of thebody 30a with the body located in the center of theprotective layer 30 and the protective layers are arranged at pitch twice as long as the pitch betweenadjacent nozzle apertures 21 in each column so that they are zigzag. - In the above embodiment, the body and the branch are arranged so that they are in the shape of a letter H, however, the similar action is produced even if as shown in Fig. 13A, the
body 30a is arranged so that it is located between nozzle apertures andbranches 30b are arranged on the same side, on the upper side in Fig. 13A in this embodiment so that an interval can be formed between thebodies 30a of adjacentprotective layers 30 and as shown in Fig. 13B, thebranches 30b are formed in reverse directions in the shape of a key. - Figs. 14 show furthermore another embodiment of the present invention and a
protective layer 35 is formed approximately in the shape of a triangle symmetrical in a direction in which alinear part 35a which is approximately perpendicular to a path on which the blade is moved on the side opposite to a direction in which theblade 12 is moved and which is longer than pitch betweenadjacent nozzle apertures 21 and acurved part 35b forming avertex 35b tapered from the linear part to the side of the nozzle aperture on the side opposite to thenozzle aperture 21 are perpendicular to a direction in which nozzle apertures are arranged. - Pitch between the adjacent
protective layers 35 is equal to pitch between theadjacent nozzle apertures 21 and the protective layers are arranged with them alternately inverted so that the side of the vertex is located on the side of the nozzle aperture. - Figs. 15 show furthermore another embodiment of the present invention and a
protective layer 36 is formed so that alinear part 36a which is approximately perpendicular to a path on which a blade is moved on the side opposite to a direction in which theblade 12 is moved and which is longer than pitch betweenadjacent nozzle apertures 21 and a curved part the center of which is the narrowest part are both symmetrical in a direction in which the nozzle apertures are arranged and a direction perpendicular to the direction. - These
protective layers 36 are arranged at pitch twice as long as pitch betweenadjacent nozzle apertures 21 so that the narrowest part is opposite to the nozzle aperture. - In this embodiment, as the blade is also elastically touched to the nozzle aperture with elastic pressure regulated by an interval in a concave portion after the blade is cleaned and refreshed by the linear part, ink, the leavings of ink, dust on paper and others in the vicinity of the nozzle aperture can be removed, preventing an ink-repellent layer from being worn possibly.
- Figs. 16 show the structure of a nozzle plate equivalent to furthermore another embodiment of the present invention and rectangular
concave portions 40 and 40' respectively surroundingnozzle apertures 21 and nozzle apertures 21' in the respective columns and provided withopen parts concave portions 40 and 40' are connected by aconcave portion 41 formed in a boundary between them. - These
concave portions 40 and 40' and theconcave portion 41 are constituted by providing aprotective layer 43 made of metal and others with the thickness of approximately 5 to 30 µm by sputtering, electroless plating, electrolytic plating and others and an ink-repellent layer 44 is formed by material provided with ink repellency inside at least theconcave portions 40 and 407. -
Walls concave portions 40 and 40' are closed, awall 41a regulating theconcave portion 41 and awall 40c' on the downstream side are formed as a slant face the downstream side in a direction in which ablade 12 is moved of which is disconnected. - In this embodiment, as recording paper is supported by the surface of the
protective layer 43 in case the recording paper comes in contact with the surface of thenozzle plate 22 in printing, the recording paper crosses theconcave portions 40 and 40', does not come in contact with the ink-repellent layer 44 which has a great effect upon ink jetting performance in theconcave portions 40 and 40' and therefore, does not peel the ink-repellent layer. - As the
blade 12 has an angle with a direction in whichnozzle apertures 21 are arranged when theblade 12 is elastically touched to thenozzle plates 22 of recording heads 6 and 7 and theblade 12 or therecording head 6 is relatively moved in a direction shown by an arrow D in Fig. 17 if cleaning is required because of long-time printing, the most of theblade 12 is supported by the surface of theprotective layer 43, only a part enters theconcave portions 40 and 40' and is elastically touched to the ink-repellent layer 44 with light force as shown in Fig. 17. - When the
recording head 6 is further relatively moved to theblade 12, the leavings K of ink are gathered on a wall on the downstream side of theconcave portion 40 and as theblade 12 is moved, the leavings of ink are moved in a direction shown by an arrow E in Fig. 18, that is, on the side of theopen port 40a as shown in Fig. 18. - The leavings of ink are exhausted out of the
nozzle plate 22 via theopen port 40a. In the other concave portion 40', the leavings K of ink are also gathered on a wall on the downstream side, are moved to theopen port 40a' of the concave portion 40' as described above as shown in Fig. 19, are guided to outside along the slope of thewall 40c' regulating the end of the concave portion 40' and are exhausted as shown in Fig. 20. - If the
blade 12 is formed so that at least theopen ports nozzle plate 22 are in contact are located outside the end of the nozzle apertures 21 (on the side of the lower end in Fig. 20), the leavings K' of ink can be guided in an area not related to jetting an ink droplet, further, if the blade is extended up to the end of thenozzle plate 22, the leavings of ink can be exhausted in an area with which theblade 12 is not in contact and the leavings of ink can be prevented from adhering to theblade 12 again in cleaning. - In the above embodiments, the ink-jet recording head of a type that a pressure generating chamber is pressurized by a piezoelectric vibrator is described as an example, however, it is clear that the similar action can be produced even if the present invention is applied to a nozzle plate of a bubble-jet recording head wherein a heater element is sealed in a pressure generating chamber and ink is jetted by thermal energy.
- As described above, according to the present invention, if recording paper comes in contact with the nozzle plate, it can be prevented from coming in contact with the ink-repellent layer in an area in the vicinity of a nozzle aperture owing to the protective layer, in cleaning the ink-repellent layer is prevented from being worn by regulating an area with which the blade comes in contact by the protective layer and elastically touching the blade with light force enough to clean the face of an nozzle aperture and further, ink, the leavings of ink and dust on paper respectively gathered by the blade can be exhausted in an area not related to jetting an ink droplet via the open port.
Claims (32)
- An ink-jet recording head, comprising:plural pressure generating chambers arranged at predetermined pitch in one or plural columns for pressurizing ink by pressurizing means; anda nozzle plate in which plural nozzle apertures each of which communicates with each pressure generating chamber are formed, and a protective layer for regulating so that a part of a blade comes in contact with said nozzle aperture when said blade is pressed on said nozzle plate is formed in a vicinity of said nozzle aperture to secure an open exhaust port on a side of an end in a direction in which a blade for cleaning is moved.
- An ink-jet recording head according to Claim 1, wherein said pressurizing means is a piezoelectric vibrator or heating means provided to said pressure generating chamber.
- An ink-jet recording head according to Claim 1, wherein a ink-repellent layer is formed at least in the vicinity of said nozzle aperture.
- An ink-jet recording head according to Claim 1, wherein said protective layer is 2 to 30 µm thick.
- An ink-jet recording head according to Claim 1, wherein said protective layer is formed by means for forming a film on said nozzle plate.
- An ink-jet recording head according to Claim 1, wherein said protective layer is formed by laminating another member.
- An ink-jet recording head according to Claim 1, wherein said protective layer is formed discretely approximately in parallel with a path on which the blade is moved and between said nozzle apertures at pitch longer than pitch between adjacent nozzle apertures.
- An ink-jet recording head according to Claim 7, wherein said protective layer is formed so that it is longer than a diameter of said nozzle aperture.
- An ink-jet recording head according to Claim 7, wherein said protective layers are arranged at pitch at which they are located at least on one side of said nozzle aperture.
- An ink-jet recording head according to Claim 7, wherein a branch perpendicular to said path on which the blade is moved is formed at least at one end of said protective layer.
- An ink-jet recording head according to Claim 10, wherein said branch is formed so that it is at least longer than pitch between adjacent nozzle apertures.
- An ink-jet recording head according to Claim 10, wherein said branch is formed so that it is wider than a width of said protective layer.
- An ink-jet recording head according to Claim 10, wherein clearance from which ink can be exhausted is secured between said branch and adjacent another protective layer.
- An ink-jet recording head according to Claim 10, wherein said branches are alternately arranged with said branch put between adjacent said protective layers.
- An ink-jet recording head according to Claim 10, wherein said branches are formed on the same side at both ends of said protective layer.
- An ink-jet recording head according to Claim 10, wherein said branches are formed on opposite sides at both ends of said protective layer.
- An ink-jet recording head according to Claim 7, wherein said protective layer is provided with a linear part approximately perpendicular to said path on which said blade is moved on a side opposite to a direction in which said blade is moved and longer than pitch between adjacent nozzle apertures and a curved part on a side opposite to said nozzle aperture.
- An ink-jet recording head according to Claim 17, wherein said protective layer is provided with a vertex tapered from said linear part.
- An ink-jet recording head according to Claim 18, wherein said protective layers are arranged so that said vertexes are opposite.
- An ink-jet recording head according to Claim 18, wherein said protective layers are symmetrical in a direction perpendicular to a direction in which said nozzle apertures are arranged.
- An ink-jet recording head according to Claim 19, wherein said protective layers are arranged at the same pitch as pitch between adjacent nozzle apertures.
- An ink-jet recording head according to Claim 17, wherein said protective layer is formed so that a center is the narrowest.
- An ink-jet recording head according to Claim 22, wherein said protective layers are symmetrical both in a direction in which said nozzle apertures are arranged and a direction perpendicular to said direction.
- An ink-jet recording head according to Claim 22, wherein said protective layers are arranged so that said narrowest part is opposite to said nozzle aperture.
- An ink-jet recording head according to Claim 21, wherein said protective layers are arranged at pitch twice as long as pitch between adjacent nozzle apertures.
- An ink-jet recording head according to Claim 7, wherein said protective layer surrounds all said nozzle apertures in the same column; and a concave portion provided with an open port at an end on a downstream side in a direction in which said blade is moved is formed.
- An ink-jet recording head according to Claim 26, wherein a wall for regulating an open port of said concave portion is tilted in a direction in which said blade exhausts.
- An ink-jet recording head according to Claim 26, wherein a boundary between adjacent said concave portions is connected by a wall tilted in a direction in which said blade exhausts.
- An ink-jet recording head according to Claim 26, wherein said open port is formed outside said nozzle aperture located at least at an end.
- An ink-jet recording head according to Claim 26, wherein said open port is formed at an end of said nozzle plate.
- An ink-jet recording apparatus comprising:an ink-jet recording head comprising a blade for cleaning constituted by an elastic member, plural pressure generating chambers arranged at predetermined pitch in one or plural columns for pressurizing ink by pressurizing means and a nozzle plate in which plural nozzle apertures each of which communicates with each pressure generating chamber are formed and a protective layer for regulating so that a part of said blade comes in contact with said nozzle aperture when said blade is pressed on said nozzle plate is formed in a vicinity of said nozzle aperture to secure an open exhaust port on a side of an end in a direction in which said blade is moved is provided, and
wherein said blade is elastically touched to said nozzle plate on a path on which said recording head is moved in cleaning. - An ink-jet recording apparatus according to Claim 31, wherein said blade is provided with a gradient to a perpendicular to said path on which said blade is moved.
Applications Claiming Priority (7)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
JP16185397 | 1997-06-04 | ||
JP16185397 | 1997-06-04 | ||
JP15877897 | 1997-06-16 | ||
JP15877897 | 1997-06-16 | ||
JP18759197 | 1997-06-27 | ||
JP18759197 | 1997-06-27 | ||
PCT/JP1998/002448 WO1998055317A1 (en) | 1997-06-04 | 1998-06-03 | Ink jet recording head and ink jet recorder |
Publications (3)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
EP0943441A1 true EP0943441A1 (en) | 1999-09-22 |
EP0943441A4 EP0943441A4 (en) | 2000-08-23 |
EP0943441B1 EP0943441B1 (en) | 2005-10-26 |
Family
ID=27321401
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
EP98923099A Expired - Lifetime EP0943441B1 (en) | 1997-06-04 | 1998-06-03 | Ink jet recording head and ink jet recorder |
Country Status (5)
Country | Link |
---|---|
US (1) | US6270191B1 (en) |
EP (1) | EP0943441B1 (en) |
JP (1) | JP3682488B2 (en) |
DE (1) | DE69832039T2 (en) |
WO (1) | WO1998055317A1 (en) |
Cited By (7)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
EP1138499A3 (en) * | 2000-03-21 | 2002-01-30 | Nec Corporation | Nozzle plate structure for ink-jet printing head and method of manufacturing nozzle plate |
WO2004067280A3 (en) * | 2003-01-28 | 2004-09-16 | Hewlett Packard Development Co | Fluid ejection head |
WO2005065331A2 (en) | 2003-12-30 | 2005-07-21 | Dimatix, Inc. | Drop ejection assembly |
EP1870241A1 (en) * | 2006-06-19 | 2007-12-26 | Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. | Image forming apparatus and method of driving the same |
EP2371546A1 (en) * | 2010-03-30 | 2011-10-05 | Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha | Liquid ejection head and method of manufacturing the same |
US8591005B2 (en) | 2010-10-08 | 2013-11-26 | Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha | Liquid ejection head and method of manufacturing the same |
EP3300893A1 (en) * | 2016-09-29 | 2018-04-04 | SII Printek Inc | Plate body, liquid ejection head, and liquid ejection recording apparatus |
Families Citing this family (14)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
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US6412908B2 (en) | 2000-05-23 | 2002-07-02 | Silverbrook Research Pty Ltd | Inkjet collimator |
AUPR277701A0 (en) * | 2001-01-30 | 2001-02-22 | Silverbrook Research Pty. Ltd. | An apparatus (art98) |
JP4890693B2 (en) * | 2001-08-10 | 2012-03-07 | キヤノン株式会社 | Inkjet recording device |
JP4781638B2 (en) * | 2004-05-07 | 2011-09-28 | パナソニック株式会社 | Line head wiping method for ink jet recording apparatus |
JP5266624B2 (en) * | 2005-05-17 | 2013-08-21 | ブラザー工業株式会社 | Droplet ejector and method for manufacturing droplet ejector |
JP4678242B2 (en) * | 2005-06-02 | 2011-04-27 | 富士ゼロックス株式会社 | Droplet discharge head and droplet discharge apparatus |
JP4557032B2 (en) * | 2008-03-31 | 2010-10-06 | ブラザー工業株式会社 | Recording device |
JP2009241500A (en) * | 2008-03-31 | 2009-10-22 | Fujifilm Corp | Nozzle plate, liquid discharge head, and image forming device |
KR20120017431A (en) * | 2009-05-17 | 2012-02-28 | 휴렛-팩커드 디벨롭먼트 컴퍼니, 엘.피. | Fluid-ejection printhead die having mixing barrier |
JP5158122B2 (en) * | 2010-03-30 | 2013-03-06 | ブラザー工業株式会社 | Method for manufacturing liquid discharge head |
JP2012139991A (en) * | 2010-12-17 | 2012-07-26 | Ricoh Co Ltd | Inkjet head, and inkjet recording apparatus |
JP6120645B2 (en) * | 2012-04-18 | 2017-04-26 | キヤノン株式会社 | Liquid discharge head |
JP2016141119A (en) * | 2015-02-04 | 2016-08-08 | セイコーエプソン株式会社 | Liquid ejecting head and liquid ejecting device |
US12011928B2 (en) * | 2022-05-11 | 2024-06-18 | Funai Electric Co., Ltd. | Self-cleaning nozzle plate |
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- 1998-06-03 WO PCT/JP1998/002448 patent/WO1998055317A1/en active IP Right Grant
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Cited By (11)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
EP1138499A3 (en) * | 2000-03-21 | 2002-01-30 | Nec Corporation | Nozzle plate structure for ink-jet printing head and method of manufacturing nozzle plate |
US6820963B2 (en) | 2001-12-13 | 2004-11-23 | Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. | Fluid ejection head |
WO2004067280A3 (en) * | 2003-01-28 | 2004-09-16 | Hewlett Packard Development Co | Fluid ejection head |
WO2005065331A2 (en) | 2003-12-30 | 2005-07-21 | Dimatix, Inc. | Drop ejection assembly |
EP1706266A2 (en) * | 2003-12-30 | 2006-10-04 | Spectra, Inc. | Drop ejection assembly |
EP1706266A4 (en) * | 2003-12-30 | 2009-08-12 | Dimatix Inc | Drop ejection assembly |
EP1870241A1 (en) * | 2006-06-19 | 2007-12-26 | Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. | Image forming apparatus and method of driving the same |
US7771005B2 (en) | 2006-06-19 | 2010-08-10 | Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. | Image forming apparatus and method of driving the same |
EP2371546A1 (en) * | 2010-03-30 | 2011-10-05 | Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha | Liquid ejection head and method of manufacturing the same |
US8591005B2 (en) | 2010-10-08 | 2013-11-26 | Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha | Liquid ejection head and method of manufacturing the same |
EP3300893A1 (en) * | 2016-09-29 | 2018-04-04 | SII Printek Inc | Plate body, liquid ejection head, and liquid ejection recording apparatus |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
US6270191B1 (en) | 2001-08-07 |
EP0943441B1 (en) | 2005-10-26 |
DE69832039D1 (en) | 2005-12-01 |
JP3682488B2 (en) | 2005-08-10 |
DE69832039T2 (en) | 2006-05-24 |
EP0943441A4 (en) | 2000-08-23 |
WO1998055317A1 (en) | 1998-12-10 |
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